| Hindu Ideals |
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HUMANITARIAN IDEALS |
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| It was at this
juncture that the king declared that it was his duty to give relief in whatever manner it
might be to the people who were suffering and that he considered that duty more -
imperative than even the enjoyment of a stay in the heavens". The king refused to go
with the messengers from the heavens and remained in hell. There can be no more impressive
story than this to emphasize the paramount character of the duty of helping those who
suffer and of relieving their misery. In his Book on ‘The Essential Unity of All Religions', Dr. Bhagwandas in Pages 412 and 754 undertake heading Help Fellowmen, You serve God, refers to the Biblical quotation from St. Mathew mentioned earlier in these lectures and gives a-Sloka from the Puranas as a parallel quotation containing similar sentiments. The Sloka means: "Mostly good men suffer with the suffering of the world. In whatever manner and in whomsoever, men of wisdom should inspire joy. This alone is worship of Isvara. Verify this is a high form of worship of the Purusha who is the All-Soul." This Sloka emphasizes two things-one that the duty of love and service to fellowmen produces joy and comfort to oneself and two, that the performance of this duty, constitutes the best form of worship of the Lord, the reason for this being that the Lord is the sum total of all human souls. Basing himself on this theme, Swami Vivekananda observes that service to mankind is the highest religion. The Swamiji says: 'I believe in the only God who is the sum total of all human beings". There is an oft-quoted Sanskrit verse which sums up all the teachings contained in our classics in this regard. "I shall state in half a stanza what has been said in ,crores of books. Merit (punya) consists in rendering help to others and sin (papa) in causing harm to others". |
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